Why Stevan Jovetic Has Most to Lose at Manchester City in Rest of 2014/15 Season

Stevan Jovetic has the most to lose at Manchester City as the 2014/15 season enters the business end because if he does not start scoring some goals, he is apt to be benched and/or sold.

City's semi-desperate overpayment for Swansea City striker Wilfried Bony, per BBC Sport, is a tacit pronouncement that Jovetic has not been good enough in the absence of Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko.

Not that anyone who watches City with any regularity would need to be told that. For that matter, Jovetic has been unusually—for a football player—honest about both this season and his time at City on the whole.

"The City fans have not seen the best of me," Jovetic said recently, according to David Lynch of the Manchester Evening News. "Nowhere near. I just want to stay healthy now. If I can do that then I can promise them that I am a much better player than they have seen so far."

With Jovetic's honesty, though, came a bit of petulance. "I know people are saying that I am always injured, but when other players get injured the same as me, they don't get the same reputation," he said.

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Well, that's true, sir. When Aguero misses time, City fans are disappointed but do not start wondering if Kun is worth the money the club paid for him. For most players, however, comparing themselves to Aguero is a losing proposition.

Also, nobody is suggesting that Jovetic ever wanted to miss out on playing time due to injury. But former American football coach Bill Parcells' wisdom applies: You are what your record says you are.

In Jovetic's case, his record says that he is occasionally brilliant but too often invisible on the pitch—even when he is healthy enough to play.

"Jovetic has started only 10 league games in 18 months for City, as he has been unavailable for several spells," wrote Richard Jolly for ESPNFC.com recently. After Jolly's report, Jovetic was given another league start for City. And it was a big one.

With the Bony rumors accompanying City to Goodison Park for their match with Everton, Jovetic had one more chance to prove to manager Manuel Pellegrini and City's decision-makers in the club's offices that he could produce when called upon.

It didn't go so well.

"When the home side were vulnerable, Stevan Jovetic and Jesus Navas missed the target horribly after being set up by David Silva," wrote Joe Bernstein in the Daily Mail about City's 1-1 draw with the Toffees.

Seeing Navas misfire is discouraging but ultimately not all that surprising. Navas has never been a finisher, and City do not much expect Navas to score anyway.

But Jovetic? That is another matter entirely. City did not spend a reported £25.8 million in the summer of 2013 to see Jovetic spray shots everywhere but into the opposing goal.

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News of Bony's likely arrival, combined with Jovetic's continued inconsistent form, has unsurprisingly led to rampant speculation that Jovetic's ticket out of Manchester might already be punched.

"Coming IN is £30 million Wilfried Bony from Swansea, with Lyon’s £25 million Alexandre Lacazette another target," wrote Paul Hetherington in the Daily Star. "Going OUT (is) Stevan Jovetic, now a £20 million target for Juventus."

There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip, though, and Jovetic probably has until at least the end of the month to produce a performance or two capable of convincing City to find some way other than selling him to balance their books.

"Juventus want to sign Stevan Jovetic from Manchester City, who would like to delay the deal until the end of the month," wrote John Richardson in the Express. "Pellegrini is in no hurry to lose Jovetic and reduce his options up front" with Bony still on Africa Cup of Nations duty, Richardson suggests.

So the onus falls to Jovetic to save his place at City. It will be interesting to see whether he can.

Or given how he was so successful in Serie A before coming to Manchester, whether he even wants to.